The squad sets off on their mission feeling oddly nervous, unsettled. They cling their weapons a little tighter, speaking little, concentrating on their tasks.
...
A quick patrol around the base reveals very little out of the ordinary-the Barracadua's powerful lights show the damage the recent undersea storm did to the base, minimal enough, but it seems to have ripped some of the patrol drones to pieces. The other drones scuttle and buzz about like busy insects, attending to minor repair work or chasing more undersea phantoms.
Kila sets the subs auto-pilot system to take them to Quadrant-138 without comment.
...
The journey is quiet, and it's always been a bit unsettling. This deep, if you lose sight of the sea floor you might as well be flying in the depths of space. There are few distinctive landmarks or sights to see, except for the occasional ghostly sea creature seen in the flickering distance, running from the noise of your subs powerful engines...very little lives down here, and what does live tends to be worms or crabs.
Things become more interesting as you approach your destination...your scanners do indeed pick up a weak power source nearby, and Kila quickly homes in on it, slowing down so as not to disturb the surface too much. What you see in your small vessels cameras is...exceedingly odd.
You could say it was a UFO, but looks more like a submarine...an organic sort, that looks something like a fish or manta ray-a long and stout craft made of strange, pale gold metal, with two wide 'wings' on either side-what looks like a hatch where the 'mouth' would be, between two glass 'eyes' that could be some sort of portholes. It looks grown, rather than made-there are no obvious signs of machine worked metal, it all seems like one solid piece, smooth and aquadynamic. You are immediately reminded of the craft from the 1st Alien War...some significant design details are the same...but surely different...it seems to have been here a long time, laying buried under the sea bed for who knows how long, only now being uncovered-it's 'tail' is buried in the mud, while it's 'snout' is angled upward, on a small hill of raised mud. A volcanic vent nearby spews thick black smoke into the war, occasionally blocking your view, but otherwise it seems fairly clear.
You've found an intact UFO left over from the 1st war! Given that XCOM agents get generous 'gratuity' bonuses for finding such things, you're all going to be rich!
....
Kila takes the Barracuda down for a smooth landing near the craft. There is a thunk, clank, thunk as the SWS is dropped off to the seafloor, awaiting orders.
1. Name: Maria Vane
Class: Infantry
Skills: Bullet Swarm, Executioner
Equipment:
Hands: Shredder Carbine, 42/42 Rounds Remain
1d8 Ballistic
Shoulder Pouches [4/4 slots] Auto Med, Shredder Carbine Clip
Leg Pouches [4/4 slots] 2x Magna Blast Grenades, 2x Shredder Carbine clips
Backpack [9/9 slots] Ceramic Plate Insert, Techmail
Belt [0/6 slots]
Stats
Strength: 14 (+2)
Dexterity: 13 (+1)
Constitution: 13 (+1)
Wisdom: 9 (-1)
Intelligence: 8 (-2)
Charisma: 9 (-1)
TU: 23/28 Remain (82% TU)
Morale: 0 (Solid)
AC: 12
HP: 55/55
2. Name: Steady 'Kila' Khan
Class: Infantry
Skills: Bullet Swarm
Steadfast
Equipment:
Hands: Shredder Cannon, 12/12 Rounds Remain
2d12 Ballistic
Shoulder Pouches [4/4 slots] Shredder Cannon clips x4
Leg Pouches [4/4 slots] Magna-Blast x4
Backpack [9/9 slots] Techmail, Ceramic Plate
Belt [6/6 slots] HUV goggles, 1 shredder cannon clip
Stats
Strength: 18 (+4)
Dexterity: 5 (-5)
Constitution: 14 (+2)
Wisdom: 9 (-1)
Intelligence: 11 (+0)
Charisma: 16 (+3)
TU: 25/25 Remain (100% TU)
Morale: 0 (Solid)
AC: 6
HP: 58/58
3. Name: Stan Eaman
Class: Assault
Skills: Run and gun, Flush
Equipment:
Hands: Hydrojet Repeater, 24/24 Rounds Remain
3d6 Explosive
Shoulder Pouches [4/4 slots]- Hydro-Jet High cap mag, Shredder rounds
Leg Pouches [4/4 slots] - Auto-med, magna blast grenade
Backpack [9/9 slots]- Ceramic plate insert, techmail
Belt [6/6 slots]- HUV goggles, dye grenade
Stats
Strength: 12 (+1)
Dexterity: 16 (+3)
Constitution: 14 (+2)
Wisdom: 10 (+0)
Intelligence: 10 (+0)
Charisma: 7 (-3)
TU: 0/36 Remain (0% TU)
Morale: 0 (Solid)
AC: 14
HP: 58/58
"SWS-0001, Online. Await you orders. No fight, want peace+love. Exception: I ready brave die for XCOM.
BIOS changes registered..."Equipment:Heavy Shredder Turret
3d10 Ballistic Damage
30/30 Rounds Remaining
Stats Strength: 14 (+2)
Dexterity: 10 (+0)
Constitution: 14 (+2)
Wisdom: 8 (-2)
Intelligence: 10 (+0)
Charisma: ~
Current Orders: None (All Aquanauts can give the SWS orders and adjust it's BIOS settings as much as they like, at a cost of 100% TU. It will continue to follow these orders until destroyed, or it achieves them, insofar as it's low intelligence can verify that. Otherwise, it is programmed by it's BIOS settings..)
BIOS SettingsAggression: Very Low/Low/Medium/High/Very High
(High Aggression will mean it goes to lengths to actively seek enemies, searching the map for them. Low aggression will mean it will fight more defensively, staying close to the squad and only fighting defensively.)
Self Preservation: Very Low/Low/Medium/High/Very High
(How well it tries to protect itself, and how often it puts itself at danger. This controls the amount of damage the SWS will sustain before attempting to actively retreat from combat.)
Intelligence: Very Low/Low/Medium/High/Very High
(The SWS's artificial intelligence can be toggled higher or lower. This is mostly for flavor, though putting it at low INT will make it more simple minded and less distracted in it's task, and putting it at high INT will make it more snarky.)
((OOC: Also, I've decided movement inside the sub is essentially 'free'. You can move to, and exit from any point of the grey square at 0 tu cost.))
Author
Topic: X-COM D20: Terror From the Deep Remastered (Prologue Mission) (Read 6488 times)